Sounds From Another Universe

[Everdrift]

Hello everybody, nice to meet you all. I have just completed songwriting for my first album, Sounds From Another Universe. I'm in the final stages of edits and mixing and mastering. I hope to have a finished product sometime around the new year. The music is electronic rock with a science fiction concept for the album. Check out my page to preview it now! Soon the album will be available for purchase, so stay tuned! And please, let me know what you think.

Mark Ford---cellist, electric cellist, keyboardist, vocalist, composer

http://www.myspace.com/markfordcello

[einzweiveirfunf]

Send Transmission

I like the cello, and the syths in the background are good. Sounding quite unique compared to what i heard. I like the vocal harmonys a lot, and so far it's sounding. I swear i can hear a guitar. Is that the electric cello by any chance? I think it's clever the way you create a modern orchestral effect with not too many instruments.

Starship

Starts off cool, but the vocals don't quite work so well with the ohing. Very atmospheric though, like your last song. The sythesisers are very cool, but again, i swear i can hear a guitar. I like the drums, a lot. It has a cool chorus.

Ruins of Paradise

Some nice piano, leading into some nice soft vocals. Chorus is subtler than your last track, but the piano is very nice. The strings are a nice accomanyment. A very dramatic ending

Galactic Wasteland

Nice and slow, stays relaxed, with some cool ?Electric cello?. Sorry, i never heard one :) Starts off relaxed and builds up perfectly, like the previouse songs.

Anyways, this stuff is originall, and i like it

[einzweiveirfunf]

Hmmm... another song. Didn't know you could have 5. Well, i'll crit it

The Hunter

Like this a lot, and the sythesisers are cool. Sounds a bit like some of the effects on my Technics keyboard. I think the chorus is extremely cool, and it goes back to the relaxed verse well. A cool song

[indietrashrock]

I'll type whilst listening.

"Send Transmission":
starts out with a nice cello that catches my attention instantly. then a variety of other instruments appear, and blend in naturally. the vocals are a bit rougher and don't blend in as smoothly though. perhaps are they just to loud? either way they work nice after some time. at first they are a bit overwhelming though. the vocal harmonies are nice but I find them to be a bit too loud, as I am sitting here really concentrating on the melody. this might be because I just fell in love with the melody and am not appreciating the vocals enough. either way, they are nice. they just "take over" a bit too much. or at least I feel so. the thing that sounds like an electric guitar (or whatever, just not a cello) soloing (especially at the end) dominates the sound picture pretty nicely. not too much, not too little. it's good.

"Starship":
errr... this caught me by quite the surprise. it's slightly punchier than the previous track (understatement of the year). the drums are _excellent_, and along with the electric cellos they are a natural counterpart to the more soft synth-stuff going on. the vocals are fantastic. fit the track really nicely. I like this even more than the previous track! the more mellow part around 2:30 to 3:30 (MySpace doesn't show all digits) does a wonderful job in making the track more diverse. plus, it's quite unexpected.

"Ruins of Paradise":
classy as hell. the piano is fantastic. Nick Cave (No More Shall We Part era) meets Rufus Wainwright (first album era) classy. and that's pretty f'ucking classy. the vocals are great. the harmonies provide the song with a nice nerve. I also like the strings and synths, as they make it even more mellow some how. it's just really Rufus Wainwright doing his stuff with Clint Mansell & Mogwai backing him up. but it's definitely Mark Ford though. it's not like you're ripping them off or owt. i's just the feel I get from listening to this. it's unique in its way though. love it.

Galactic Wasteland:
when I hear this, the first thing I think about is that what I thought couldn't be a cello on "Send Transmission" might very well have been a cello. it's easier to recognize it as a cello here, 'cos it isn't battling so much other stuff for attention. here it gets to be somewhat on its own. not completely alone though. it's kept company by some nice synths and various effects. and the soft drums, 'course. and finally - the vocals, which btw happen to be extra-ordinary. amazing how you pull it off. just bloody fantastic.

"The Hunter":
the vocals are spaced out, and so is the whole track really. the drums are as always excellent. but this track just gets a bit too weird for me. it doesn't provoke me nor interest me especially. this is the only track I didn't like too much. even though it gets better as it progresses, it's never too interesting.

overall sound picture pros & cons:

pros:
- great vocals
- consistent melodies
- thorough mixing
- clever composition in general
- classy
- very detailed and complex drums

cons:
- can get repetitive over time
- sounds somewhat uninspired, or perhaps apathetic at times
(- might be unappealing to teenyboppers who just want a beat they can dance do, though I'm sure that's not who you're primarily making your music for)

favourite track: "Ruins of Paradise"

[Everdrift]

Send Transmission

I like the cello, and the syths in the background are good. Sounding quite unique compared to what i heard. I like the vocal harmonys a lot, and so far it's sounding. I swear i can hear a guitar. Is that the electric cello by any chance? I think it's clever the way you create a modern orchestral effect with not too many instruments.

Starship

Starts off cool, but the vocals don't quite work so well with the ohing. Very atmospheric though, like your last song. The sythesisers are very cool, but again, i swear i can hear a guitar. I like the drums, a lot. It has a cool chorus.

Ruins of Paradise

Some nice piano, leading into some nice soft vocals. Chorus is subtler than your last track, but the piano is very nice. The strings are a nice accomanyment. A very dramatic ending

Galactic Wasteland

Nice and slow, stays relaxed, with some cool ?Electric cello?. Sorry, i never heard one :) Starts off relaxed and builds up perfectly, like the previouse songs.

Anyways, this stuff is originall, and i like it

Thanks for the crit, glad you liked it! Yup, those are guitars you hear. I switch between Telecaster and Les Paul deluxe samples. The only cello up on the page right now is at the opening of Send Transmission. In general it is very tough to get it just right in the mix, especially during a fuller section, so I've had to focus more on getting the other elements right on this album. In the future I'm sure I'll incorporate it more. Thanks for listening! Would you like if I reviewed anything from you?

[Everdrift]

Hi indie, thanks for the thorough review. As I mentioned above, the cello is only on the opening of Send Transmission. I'm going to have to agree with you about "The Hunter", it's my least favorite as well! :lol: I'm glad you thought the drums were good, because as a keyboard/cello player, the drums are what I know the least about! Maybe it's forced me to pay careful attention to them. Well, thanks again, I really appreciate it, and I'm happy that you liked it. If you would like, I could review something from you in return. :)

[indietrashrock]

hi if you wanna you could give my tracks a spin - http://sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=541860
cheers

[einzweiveirfunf]

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=542015 How very nice of you to offer. ANy feedback welcome

[Happy_Squirrel]

I'll try to crit these without reading anyone else's reviews first:

Send Transmission - Lovely song. The cello and guitar(?) parts are beautiful, and so is the bass for that matter. The lilting percussion is also a perfect compliment. The vocals were good, but I would probably say that they are the weakest part of the song. However, please don't take that too badly; I don't mean that as a poor reflection on your vocals , but rather that everything else is so damn good. My only minor complaint on this song is that the double-bass programming on the drums in the chorus seemed a bit over the top for my tastes, although that was probably what you were going for. You have an excellent knack for songcraft.

Starship - Definitely dissonant sounding, especially compared to "Send Transmission". You did a nice job of catching me off guard. At first I didn't like it, but as I continued to listen to the song I started to "get it". You did a great job of creating and releasing tension. Great melodies in the chorus for the "release".

Ruins of Paradise - Beautiful piano parts and electronic sequencing. The vocal melodies and harmonies are smartly written, but once again I think the singing may be the weakest part of the song (still waaaaaaaaay better than I could do). Very impressive piano parts at the end. did you play all of that, or was it programmed?

Galactic Wasteland - Probably the least interesting song for me, but beautiful in an understated haunting way, nonetheless. The production seemed a bit muted and flat, but it could've just been because I was listening to it on myspace through crappy computer speakers. It seemed to me like the guitars could've used some more layering (either through more tracks or maybe just using a chorus effect?) or maybe some more reverb. But then again, that's just me. Whenever I hear this type of music I hold it up against "A Storm In Heaven" by the Verve (the gold standard for ambient shoegazer rock, IMO) and there's pooploads of reverb on all the guitars on that one. But I digress...

The Hunter - Lots of potential, but this one more or less didn't quite work for me. It just sounded a little too forced, especially during the chorus. The synthesizer stuff coming out of the left speaker seemed to be in conflict with everything else. However, there are lots of good points. I loved the percussion, especially the rhythms in the verses. I will say that I think this song came together pretty well at the end.

Is your album going to be available for purchase as an actual physical cd, or just as downloads? I look forward to it.

Also, thanks for critiquing my tunes. :chug:

[Everdrift]

Happysquirrel,

Thanks for the comments and for listening to everything! You guys are good listeners on here, for sure. To answer your questions, I generally do a combination of performance and sequencing on the keyboard work. It depends what I'm going for: if it's to be deadlocked into the tempo, I'll probably sequence most of it. If I'm looking for more rhythmic freedom, I'll probably play it. If I'm generating an idea, I'll often play it, if I'm elaborating on an idea, I'll go into the piano roll. I think that Ruins of Paradise was mostly sequenced. My CD will be available as an actual album soon. I'm just finishing up a few things to get it ready, and working on getting some startup capital, then it'll be off to Oasis. I hope you'll buy one! :)

Nice idea about the reverb on G.W. guitars, I think I'll try that.

Kind regards,
Mark
:wave:

[Eliminator]

send transmission and ruins of paradise are really good. the vocals sort of remind me of Ride and other shoegaze type stuff

starship sounds really awkward and forced though, especially compared to the other songs. it reminds me of cheesy prog rock that tries to sound "out there" but instead comes off contrived

[Everdrift]

send transmission and ruins of paradise are really good. the vocals sort of remind me of Ride and other shoegaze type stuff

starship sounds really awkward and forced though, especially compared to the other songs. it reminds me of cheesy prog rock that tries to sound "out there" but instead comes off contrived

Thanks for listening Eliminator, and I'm glad you liked at least some of it! :)

I can accept cheesy. A lot of decent prog rock has always leaned towards the cheese-tastic side of things. :D

Regards,
Mark

[Everdrift]

I really need to thank you guys. I thought about how most people feel kind of ho-hum about The Hunter, as do I, and I decided to axe it from the album and replace it with a new song that I wrote in one day. It usually takes me a week, I don't really know what happened! The new song is called "Rocket Fuel" and I like it a lot better than The Hunter. Fits the album theme better too. I might even make it track 2.

Kind regards,
Mark

[indietrashrock]

MUCH better than The Hunter.
it starts out damn near epic. real massive sound. it reminds me a bit like an obscure psychedelic 70s band having a reunion trying to cover Arcade Fire or summat. once again the vocals are very loud in the mix, but it just fits this time. it's so energetic and high-paced, yet very beautiful and hypnotizing. this might just be me favourite track of you thus far. it's spectacular. there's so many things goin' on with the guitar textures, it's almost overwhelming. but it never gets real overwhelming. it's always kept nicely in check. very consistent.

this is quite simply: AWESOME.

[Happy_Squirrel]

Wow. Just listened to Rocket Fuel. Great tune. I loved the frantic pace and the drums. That programmed violin(?) solo in the last part of the song was wicked. I think this may be your best vocal performance that I've heard. No complaints, this is definitely a winner. I think it's tied with Send Transmission for my favorite piece of yours.

[Everdrift]

Thanks guys! Glad you liked it, I might not have written it if it weren't for you. :) It's an electric cello you hear, a real one, not sequenced! Thanks for listening!

Mark

[Happy_Squirrel]

It's an electric cello you hear, a real one, not sequenced!

My apologies for the incorrect assumption. You're a badass!

[einzweiveirfunf]

Rocket Fuel

Great opening riff, i mean really good, very atmospheric, and the vocal harmonies are awesome. It has a very nice sorta multi-coloured sound to it. The chorus is awesome and i like the high pitch backing vocals. The frantic guitar or elletric cello(?) afterwards is very cool. The texture of this song is frantic, but smooth as silk, and that's a very good combination to have.

How would i buy a CD just out of curiosity?

[Everdrift]

Rocket Fuel

Great opening riff, i mean really good, very atmospheric, and the vocal harmonies are awesome. It has a very nice sorta multi-coloured sound to it. The chorus is awesome and i like the high pitch backing vocals. The frantic guitar or elletric cello(?) afterwards is very cool. The texture of this song is frantic, but smooth as silk, and that's a very good combination to have.

How would i buy a CD just out of curiosity?

Well, the CD isn't printed just yet. :) This was sort of a preview and I'm glad I posted here because it's been a great sounding board to talk to you and the other guys. I'm working on album artwork and design with one of my friends right now and I hope to have some copies by the new year. It will definitely be available for download and there should also be some hard copies ready before long. What's cool too is that as you know, stuff sounds really weirdly hissy on myspace and tends to sound much better in other formats. So I'm hoping it will be a worthwhile listen even if you've heard the myspace. :) Really appreciate you listening, I'd love to keep in touch about music. Anything on your mind.

Mark